Chrysler 200C EV Concept

A possible Sebring replacement we could live with.

JON YANCA

Jan 11, 2009

JEFFREY G. RUSSELL, THE MANUFACTURER

Every year at the North American International Auto Show, we encounter a surprise or two. This year Chrysler had us all fooled, thinking they were only showing us an updated version of the Dodge Circuit EV and the new Jeep Patriot EV. Then they went and dropped the Chrysler 200C EV concept. Although this is just a concept, it gives us much hope for a future Sebring replacement. The design is very elegant—not a word you’d use to describe the Sebring—and the shape reminds us a bit of the latest Infiniti G.

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Underneath the skin, the 200C’s ENVI range-extending electric-vehicle technology is shared with a trio of other Chrysler concepts. Similar to other range-extending vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt, it is capable of running up to 40 miles solely on electricity. Range is extended to 400 miles using a small gas-fired engine as an electricity generator. Chrysler says the rear-drive sedan (sources say this is built on a shortened version of the LX platform) has a claimed 0-to-60-mph time of about seven seconds and a quarter-mile time in the mid-15s, and the company also quotes top speed at “greater than 120 mph.” The 200C is 1.5 inches longer, 2.4 inches wider, and 1.7 inches shorter in height than a Sebring, and the concept has 7.2 extra inches between its wheels.

Uconnect to the Next Level

Like most concepts, the interior is the most futuristic and unrealistic aspect of the car. Looking very clean, white leather covers almost everything in the cockpit, but the real surprise lies on the fully customizable instrument display. Taking its Uconnect infotainment system to the next level, the 200C allows you to fully integrate media of all types. The IP is fully customizable and allows you to purchase music or accept navigation inputs from the passenger’s portable tablet display. Further features of Uconnect give your phone the ability to start the vehicle, adjust temperature controls, view the interior through a fixed camera, or get a report on the vehicle’s location, to give a few examples.

Given the disappointment that is the Sebring—it finished last in a six-car comparo when it was brand-new—we’d love to see this vehicle produced as a replacement. Chrysler says it will build one of its EV concepts for 2010 and three others by 2013. We can only hope this is one of the vehicles slated for production, EV or not.